Drawing inspiration from personal experience, the Michigan-based metalheads breakk.away has dropped their latest single I’ll See You When The Night Comes on the 1st of May 2023. And today we’re gonna chat with them and get to know more about their world
Hello breakk.away, we’re happy to have you here with us on Rock Era Magazine,
- I can hear diverse sounds and inspirations in your music, would you tell me more about your early influences? And which ones still steer your writing?
We all come from very different musical backgrounds and have many influences, this first song was looking at our more calm piano-focused side, drawing from indie pop style artists like Florence + the Machine, then bringing in more traditional metalcore elements like Spiritbox. Currently, we are leaning more toward hyperpop and reggaeton and fusing that with metalcore, especially with a love for SOPHIE, Arca, and Rosalìa, being common links between us while reigning in the heavier elements but still push them heavier, drawing from Darko US and vildhjarta.
- How did you guys meet? And what’s behind your name breakk.away?
We all met in (and are still attending) a music highschool just as friends in 2021, and decided to make some music, which was further propelled by getting to play at a festival in 2022 which really kickstarted everything.
- What inspires your writing? Does it always come from personal experiences?
Lyrically mostly yes, but sometimes a cool lyric comes to one of us and we build from there.
- You guys have a multi-layered sound, can you tell us more about your writing process?
It starts in one of three ways, the first being lyrics first which are written by everyone collaboratively, then chords to compliment the mood and build a structure. from there, a topline is written then the full song gets expanded on. Another way is starting with a riff, which leads to heavier songs, where one of our guitarists will come up with a riff which is then typically turned into a main motif. then structured out. Lyrics and topline are typically the last in the process with these songs. Finally, another way we start is by having chords that anyone brings that we all like and then finding either a piano or synth patch that fits the mood of the chords are how it feels, then we expand on it with sound design with guitars typically being last to be added. These tracks always end up quite experimental but they typically are our favorites.
- Can you tell us more about the story behind I’ll See You When The Night Comes? What kickstarted its writing?
ISYWTNC started just as the ending chorus and rough lyrics one of our guitarists wrote in the morning before classes started. Later that day they brought it to everyone and our keyboardist and vocalist came up with the main piano line as well as refined the lyrics and created the topline. From there it was all about layers, adding synth micro hooks, ambiance, and anything to spice it up after which we sent it to our producer who polished it off.
- How would you describe your sound to someone who wants to get into your music?
Our vocalist Jessica describes our sound as “Metal with a pop sensibility” and this is probably the best way to describe our sound.
- What are your plans for 2023/2024? Are there any gigs or new releases planned?
